When we got home from school one day last week, it was raining and the kids were full of energy. They were starting to argue and I could tell that it was going to be a long afternoon. Since we couldn’t go outside, I turned on some music and we played freeze dance. While the music was playing, we all (including me) danced around the living room. When I turned off the music, we all froze in a crazy pose and then stood there for a few minutes later. As soon as I turned the music back on, we would all start dancing again. Since my kids are in elementary school we danced to a Kids Pop CD (Laurel’s current favorite song is Party in the U.S.A), but you could dance to nursery rhymes or a Wiggles CD for younger kids. One of the great things about this activity is that everyone from toddlers to fifth-graders enjoy freeze dance so you can do this activity with mixed-ages.
By the time we all tired of dancing, the mood in my house had changed dramatically. Instead of arguing and being grumpy, we spent the afternoon playing board games and hanging out.
What games or fun activities do you play to help change the mood in your house?
This is great! We do something very similar in our house and have even trained the dog to participate and 'freeze' on command. Training the dog to respond helped stretch out how long this activity was fun and how long it was novel. Just put away all the breakables first!
ReplyDeleteDancing is popular with us, too. And I use it in the same way -- when everyone (including me) needs to blow off energy or steam. They love it and so do I.
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